Pages

Monday, 16 February 2015

Fishponds

And talking of heritage assets and settings of listed buildings, this is the setting of Grade I listed Cadhay, resplendent with mediaeval fishponds in the foreground, themselves Grade II listed. What we said in our last blog would apply equally here too. A reliable supply of spring water from Straitgate, particularly during drier periods, is critical to the functioning of these ponds.

396. Cadhay is a historic house, listed as being of historic and architectual importance, and is open to the public. One of the features is the fish ponds immediately to the south of it. They are fed by the reservoir [in Cadhay Wood] and [Cadhay Wood] stream. They are not lined and water seepage takes the whole outflow. 397. It is contended that if the present water supply to the ponds were no longer sufficient to supply them they would be lost to posterity in the way in which they have existed for centuries, which would be a wanton destruction of a valuable historic monument.

The position of the spring is indicated by our arrow on ECC’s 1967 working plans below. No doubt it was in an effort to protect this water source [53] that ECC intended to leave the surrounding area unquarried.

Aggregate Industries has made no allowance yet for this spring on any plans we have seen.

Yet more for AI to subtract from its ever decreasing resource?

In 1968, the planning inspector concluded that any loss of flow to springs and streams at Cadhay "could be made good from the Straitgate lake...". [408] Without a lake, it's not exactly clear how AI could achieve that now.